About Me

I am a person with varied interests.
Music is my breath and though I like all kinds of music, I am enamoured of the variety and the depth of Indian Classical music.As far as Film music is concerned, I love Old songs and ILaiyaraaja-whom I consider as one of the best composers in the world- is my favourite composer.
I love travelling and meeting new people . A lover of nature, I prefer those long walks.

My Other Blog

Saturday, 4 April 2015

ILaiyaraaja- The Savant

The very mention of the word Intellectual conjures up many images. We generally perceive an intellectual to be learned and at the same time in a totally differentplane. We also
call anything beyond our comprehension as
something intellectual. Is it
difficult to understand anything which is intellectual?
If so, is there any purpose of that intellect at all?

In my previous post
here on Devatai oru Devetai , I
explained as to how important ‘expressing’
is for any creative person. All creative people in general are learned (some way or the other) but not
all learned people are creative.

There is one more factor, the sense of aesthetics.

So, there are three
aspects here. Expressive, Creative and Sense of Aesthetics..

In my opinion, a true
learned person is one who has all these three
apart from Knowledge. But being expressive does not necessarily mean
that one will be able to comprehend
whatever they say. For that to happen,
one must spend time in thinking and interpreting their works. And there
lies the beauty.

I have already spoken about Thirugnansambhandar in some of my previous posts. He was a child
prodigy and a scholar . Though each
of his verses in Tevaram is beautiful, one needs to read
them again and again to understand the full import..Only then does one get to
know more and more about the hidden beauties.

Look at this verse:

புற்றரவுபற்றியகைநெற்றியது

மற்றொருகண்ஒற்றைவிடையன்

செற்றதெயில்உற்றதுமைஅற்றவர்கள்

நற்றுணைவன்உற்றநகர்தான்

சுற்றுமணிபெற்றதொளிசெற்றமொடு

குற்றமிலதுஎற்றெனவினாய்க்

கற்றவர்கள்சொற்றொகையின்முற்றுமொளி

பெற்றகயிலாயமலையே.

putRaravu patRiyakai
netRiyathu

matRorukaN otRai vidaiyan

setRatheyil
utRathumai atRavarkaL

natRuNaivan utRanagarthAn

sutRumaNi petRathoLi
setRamoDu

kutRamilathu etRena vinAyk

ktRavarkaL
sotRokaiyin mutRumoLi

petRa kayilAyamalaiye.

Sounds so lovely with the rhyming words! (I have given the transcript in English for people who cannot read Tamizh so that you all can appreciate the rhyme even if all words sound alien!)

But can we stop with that? Don’t we have to make an
effort to understand what the poet
has said?

So, as a first step let us split the words:

புற்றுஅரவுபற்றியகை, நெற்றிஅது

மற்றொருகண், ஒற்றைவிடையன்,

செற்றதுஎயில், உற்றதுஉமை, அற்றவர்கள்

நல்துணைவன், உற்றநகர்தான்

சுற்றும்அணி, பெற்றதுஒளிசெற்றமொடு

'குற்றம்இலதுஎற்று' என‌ வினாய்க்

கற்றவர்கள்சொல்தொகையின்முற்றும்ஒளி

பெற்றகயிலாயமலையே.

Sounds better now?

Second step is to understand the meanings of the words. To make it simpler, let me give the meaning
of the entire verse:

‘One hand holds
the snake, the other hand embraces Paarvati. The one-eye on the forehead burnt
the three corners. He has one Nandi as his Vaahana. He is the Guide for people
who have renounced the world. ‘How is that that His abode shimmers with the
gems and is without any blemish’, ask the learned people about Mount Kailash’.

Is the mystery
unraveled now? To a certain extent perhaps. I shall stop here and not go to the
esoteric meanings.

Isn’t it a great scholarly work? If the rhyme words make us sit up and enjoy,
the meanings make us appreciate it more and even make us think.

ILaiyaraaja’s
works have this quality. Irrespective of whether one understands the intricacies or not, one is able to
enjoy his songs. But once the hidden beauties are revealed, one is
able to enjoy it more.

Let us take the song
‘Vandadhe
Kungumum’ from ‘Kizhakku Vaasal’
(1990).

‘Very pleasing to the ears’ – This is
what we say when we listen to it. How would we react if we delve deep
into the composition and have a closer
look?

Shall we do that now?

It is based on Mohanam,
a very classical and genuinely beautifulraga and is set in the Aadi TaaLam in Tisra gati- 8-beat cycle
with 1 2 3 in each beat. What else does it have?

Let us start from the beginning.

The Bell
sounds and the synchronized chorus
sings the akaaram in pure Mohanam. There is a pattern here. The Bell sounds for every odd beat in the cycle. After the half-aavartana(4
beats), yet another bell sounds
continuously. What a felicitous start!

The chorus gradually
goes on the ascent in the next aavartana and just at the end of this aavratana-7th beat to be precise- the Strings take over. They break into enthusiastic bursts and play with sheen. The percussion joins now. There are three sets-two Mridangams and one very subtle percussion
instrument. The first mridangam goes
as ta ka dhi mi ta ka while the
second one plays only the ‘dhi’ and ‘ta’ (3rd and 5th) for every alternate ta ka dhi mi ta ka making a heavy
thundering sound!

The Strings
move for one full aavartana drawing
the beautiful sketch of Mohanam.
They continue till the third beat of the next aavartana when the Flute
appears and embroiders the sketch. The Bell
completes the aavaratana.

The Pallavi which
starts with the swara ‘ga’ is gamaka-laden and shows how the composer has handled the classical raga as a raga and not as a scale.
The ‘Ri Sa’ phrase (O..O..)
and the ‘dha Sa Ga Ri Ga Sa Ri’(Vaan megam)
and the chorus singing the akaaram
in ‘Kungumum’
and ‘Sangamam’
are just samples to show how he gave vent to his propensities of giving a
genuine classical piece.

A very spirited and flawless rendering by Chitra makes it even more beautiful.

The Laya
Pattern is the same as the one in the second
part of the prelude except that
the mridangam plays three ‘ta ka dhi mi’ in mel kaalam towards the end (nee
paada) with the thunderous second mridangam
sounding in the ‘ta’ and ‘dhi’ in the third ‘ta ka dhi mi’.

The Flute
plays with a silken smoothness in the beginning of the second interlude with a second Flute
replying with a flirtatious shyness. This engagement without percussion is on for a full aavartana after which the chorus appears backed by the racing Strings and the Mridangam(s). The Strings
then move in higher octave giving exotic touches to the undiluted Mohanam intercepted melodically by the Bells.

The CharaNams
are replete with enjoyable phrases and variegated patterns.

The Guitar sounds
in the beginning of the first two lines
after which it sounds before each phrase in the following two lines. The Tabla
also plays playfully in the first two
lines. The pause in the vocals
for one beat makes us realise the
value of silence.

There are tensile sangatis
too after the two phrases in the
first two lines- dha pa ga ri ga padha and pa dha pa dha pa dha
ga. The last sangati is a marvel
starting with the upper Sa, Ri and Ga and then giving the avarohaNam with just one more ‘ga’ appearing after ‘sadhapagari’ and before the ‘sa’ in the
end. Uninhibited creativity!

The first segment
of the second interlude sees the western classical shades of Mohanam with the Strings playing with a sedate dignity. The chorus sings the ‘mkaaram’
with the suave Flute repeating it.
The musical dialogues sans percussion
continue for some time before the Guitar
goes on a melodic spree. The Strings
follow suit with emotional richness. The bewitching Flute twists and turns and we sink gently into a plane of
profundity.

Intellectually
challenging or Emotionally
appealing?

Aren’t these mutually inclusive?

If you can not see this chirbit, listen to it here http://chirb.it/2rytPy